7 Reasons Why La Habana is Magic

There’s some kind of magic in La Habana, the cap­i­tal of Cuba, which I have hardly felt in other cities.

Prob­a­bly it is related to the con­tra­dic­tions that make the Havana some­how wild and lead­ing to nos­tal­gia, and a city where poverty is mixed to joy, vis­i­ble in the smiles illu­mi­nat­ing the largest part of Cubans and the power of the ubiq­ui­tous music.

Although I had only lit­tle time to dis­cover the city, La Habana stroke my heart almost imme­di­ately. I would have liked to have more time to explore the city and its secret cor­ners, to observe peo­ple and
talk to them. I got back home feel­ing that I had missed some­thing,
because time was too short. Despite that, I felt that I was wild about
La Habana, its unique atmos­phere, its magic.

And I tried to under­stand why I found the Havana so magic. There are many more but for me, these are the 5 most impor­tant fea­tures that make La Habana magic:

@ The impos­ing archi­tec­ture in the old town. Awe­some colo­nial and baroque build­ings, some of them won­der­fully restored and oth­ers let­ting catch a glimpse on their past beauty
despite the present relinquishment.

@ The lovely tiny streets, burst­ing with life at every door and cor­ner. And the ‘old fash­ioned’ tra­di­tional shops.

@ The ubiq­ui­tous music, so cheer­ful and involv­ing with its joy­ful rhythm coloured by a pinch of nos­tal­gia
(by the way, does any­one of you remem­ber the awe­some movie ‘ Buena Vista Social Club’ by Wim Wenders?)

@ The lovely restau­rants and bars inside the typ­i­cal ‘patios’ within the colo­nial build­ings, where you can stop for a drink or a meal in a won­der­ful atmosphere.

@ Old cars and motor­cy­cles: I won­der if there’s still a city in the world where you can still see such amaz­ing colour­ful Amer­i­can old cars or authen­tic side-cars, not used as a
collector’s tro­phy but only as a day-to-day means of transportation…

@ Won­drous churches and clois­ters: the sober and peace­ful clois­ters and the baroque facades of the main churches inspired me a sense of peace.

@ Time looks sus­pended, espe­cially hen you hap­pen to stroll around big squares full of book­shelves where the largest major­ity of books is about the Rev­o­lu­tion, Che Gue­vara and Fidel Cas­tro. No doubt that ‘El Che’, as a myth, is still alive.

More photos and posts on http://www.wild-about-travel.com/2010/09/7-reasons-havana-magic/